Lawmakers release report on Matt Gaetz’s sexual misconduct allegations: NPR

Representative at the time. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks during a committee hearing on July 23, 2024 in Washington, DC

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The House Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report Monday on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, after investigating sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The committee concluded that there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws and other standards of conduct, engaging in prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, accepting improper gifts, and granting special favors and Prohibitions of Privilege and Disability by Congress.”

Among other things, the committee found that Gaetz had sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl in 2017 and used or possessed illegal drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine, on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019.

Gaetz has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including in a statement on social media last week.

“I have NEVER had sexual contact with anyone under the age of 18. Any claim I have would be destroyed in court – which is why such a claim was never made in court,” he wrote in the post.

“My 30s were a time when I worked very hard – and played hard too. “It’s embarrassing, although not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” he continued.

The panel launched an investigation into Gaetz in 2021 after a flood of allegations were made against the then-congressman, including illegal drug use and sexual misconduct. It released the report over the objections of some members of the panel and its chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., who said the committee had no jurisdiction over former members of Congress.

Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida and staunch defender of President-elect Donald Trump, resigned his seat before the panel voted to release the report and insists he did nothing wrong. But the panel’s leaked allegations last month scuttled Gaetz’s bid to serve as Trump’s attorney general.

In a final attempt Monday, Gaetz sued the ethics panel and its chairman, Guest, to block release of the report, arguing the committee had no jurisdiction over private citizens.

The panel said in its report that it typically does not release its findings after it lost jurisdiction over the matter – which happened after Gaetz resigned from Congress last month.

“However, there have been several prior cases in which the committee has determined that it is in the public interest to continue to publish its findings after a member has resigned from Congress,” the panel wrote. “The committee does not do this lightly.”

In its report, the panel also found that Gaetz was his chief of staff to obtain a passport for a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual conduct, “thereby falsely informing the State Department that she was a voter.”

In connection with a trip to the Bahamas in 2018, he also accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging, in excess of the amounts permitted by law.

“Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully attempted to obstruct and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct,” the committee said. “Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that discredits the House of Representatives.”

The decision to release the report represents an about-face from the committee, which was deadlocked on the issue in November, when Gaetz was still vying for the attorney general job. A full House vote to release the report, introduced by a Democratic lawmaker, also failed earlier this month.

Guest, the panel’s chairman, wrote in the report on Monday on behalf of dissenting members who objected to the report’s release: “While we do not question the committee’s findings, we have serious concerns that the majority “deviated from the Committee’s established standards.” voted to release a report on an individual no longer subject to the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006.”

The FBI investigated Gaetz in 2021 for possible sex trafficking violations, but the Justice Department did not file charges. The ethics panel also did not conclude that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking law.

While Gaetz has drawn the ire of Democratic and Republican colleagues alike, many Republicans have expressed concerns about releasing a report on someone who is no longer a member of the House of Representatives or seeking higher office.

“The decision to release a report after his resignation represents a break with the committee’s long-standing practice and is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Guest, the ethics committee chairman, said in a statement.